Dead Witch Cast No Spell
by Katana Geist
Summary: Walburga and Orion Black had three children; the eldest - Sirius Black, a disgrace; the youngest - Regulus Black, a golden child; finally, there was a daughter, Sagitta Black. Sagitta was dead, she died due to a magical accident that occurred at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her own power was too much for her. Or so they said...
1. 01 - 1971 - The Station

**0.1 - 1971 - The Station**

There was a little second year Hufflepuff who couldn't be bothered with the world. A girl with messy black hair that reached the middle of her back. A witch with stormy grey eyes that matched her enraged personality. A sister whose brother thought her to be dead.

Start of term had come at long last. Tatty had spent the whole summer swimming in the Black Lake and climbing trees in the Forbidden Forest. Now, her classmates were returning, along with the new batch of witches and wizards who would be sorted into their respective houses shortly.

There was only one person who had caught the girl's eye, though, and that was the boy who didn't know she existed.

Sirius Black had already surrounded himself with three other boys his age. James Potter, a pureblood like Sirius, had been best friends with Black since they could walk. The Black family used to summer at a wizarding community on the same strip of beach as the Potters. Then there were two other boys, a tall, lanky fellow with mousy brown hair that fell into his eyes, and a shorter, stouter wizard with dirty blond hair.

As Tatty observed, she smiled wistfully at her brother. His dark black curls were as perfectly styled as ever. White dress shirt casually untucked and robes disheveled as he and Potter held each other in headlocks - Tatty seriously wondered if the brother of hers would learn anything at school or if he would spend all his time messing around with his friends.

Hagrid called the first years to the boats, and Tatty made leave of the Hogsmeade Station. She had only come to watch her brother's arrival, after all.

Back at the castle, Tatty ran through the halls and into her ground-level dormitory. Racing through the common and nearly face-planting onto the rug, Tatty scrambled her way into her bedchambers.

Three out of the four beds were unoccupied. Tatty's section of the room was distinctly disheveled, as she hadn't bothered to tidy her room since the beginning of summer when her boredom had gotten to her. That was before she decided to bend the rules and do whatever she wanted. Summer after that was the best time of her life.

Ripping around her room, Tatty pulled on her school uniform. The yellow plaid skirt that passed her knees was wrinkled and her dress shirt had a coffee stain on the sleeve, but she was wearing what she was supposed to by the time she was tripping back down through the dormitory, haphazardly stuffing her feet into her black Mary-Janes.

Pausing in front of the mirror next to the exit, Tatty took a moment to transform from Sagitta Walburga Black into Fletcher Aterr Blanche. Her hair changed colour, starting at the roots and pouring down her locks like liquid, changing from curly black to kinky brown. Her eyes turned from stormy grey to muted hazel and her glasses disappeared. Her legs and torso shortened a tiny bit, transitioning her from tall to average height. Freckles appeared onto her perfectly pale face, bridging her nose and dotting both cheeks.

_There_. Letty was back. Tatty was on sabbatical.


	2. 02 - 1971 - In the Dark of the Night

**0.2 - 1971 - In the Dark of the Night **

Tatty's eyes flashed open, her body frozen as she lay in her bed. Breathing constricted by the aftereffects of her nightmare, she stared up at the low ceiling.

Ever since Kreacher told her about Sirius attending Hogwarts in the fall, Tatty had been plagued with dreams, varying in events, yet always involving her changing her appearance and name. Kreacher and her had discussed the possibilities of breaking out, but he always told her she wasn't strong enough. Even with all his teaching, she wasn't ready to become Fletcher White. Even with all her natural abilities, she wasn't able to adjust her features. Even with all the studying, she couldn't survive on her own just yet.

Or so he said.

Tatty rolled onto her stomach, her thin linen blanket tangling around her legs, a huff of air passing her lips.

Why couldn't Kreacher just poof her out of the hot attic she called home? Why couldn't he steal money for her, bring her food, sew her clothes? Why couldn't she just leave?

Tatty swiveled her head where it rested on her hands. Finding the blurred clock on the wall, she reminded herself why she hadn't escaped yet.

Sirius and Regulus.

They were the only reason Tatty was truly stuck. She could leave anytime she wanted, she knew what she was capable of, especially after her year of lessons with Kreacher. Of course, she wouldn't be leaving until she could ensure the safety of her brothers.

Although Tatty couldn't make out the people in the portrait without her glasses or a light on, she saw their movements clearly, and she had memorised their expressions, locking the captured moment into her heart.

Back when they were younger, Sirius, Tatty, and Archie had been perfect trouble-makers. Together, they had terrorised Mr. and Mrs. Black. The picture hanging on the wall next to her clock held the three of them as Tatty wrestled the boys into headlocks. A determined look was on Tatty's face while Archie laughed and Sirius growled annoyedly.

He had never appreciated Tatty's ability to beat him in a fight, particularly because she was eleven months younger than him.

Tatty rested her cheek against her hand. That was why she was still there. That was why she hadn't left yet. That was why she wouldn't be disappearing anytime soon.

Still, it didn't hurt to be prepared. She had a stash of supplies locked away, along with a few keepsakes that got her through the really bad days.

Creeping out of the bed, Tatty pressed her bare feet against the hardwood. In the window seat on the east side of the room, there was a collection of items, one of which, when moved in a specific pattern, opened the window seat on the other side of the room. Tatty stepped over to the east and opened the chest that served as the window seat. Tapping twice the little music box at the bottom of the chest, then twisting it on its feet. One right, two left, once all the way around counterclockwise, then twice the other way.

Across the attic bedroom, Tatty heard the nearly inaudible click of the lock turning. Trekking to the west, Tatty opened the seat and propped it up with an old measuring stick.

A rueful smile curled her rosy lips as her eyes grew glassy. Fingering the clippings pasted to the underside of the window seat, Tatty examined the little notes Sirius had written in the margins of his notebooks which Kreacher had collected for her, along with bits of art Archie sketched and tossed. Kreacher had fetched Tatty things that year, things she would have gone insane without, like reminders that her brothers were still alive and well.

Well, well-ish.

Sirius still wrote Tatty a letter every Saturday, which had been Tatty's favourite day of the week. Those were all contained in an old tin. Every once in a while, Tatty would stay up and use the moonlight to read the letters again.

They detailed whatever Sirius had done that week, what he would be doing in the coming week - they spoke of any and all pranks he came up with, whether or not he executed them or not and how they turned out if he had - and most importantly, they told her how much he missed his baby sister.

The endings of Sirius' letters always made Tatty choke up. It had started out as paragraphs of instances when he broke down, when he remembered he wouldn't wake up to see Tatty's face ever again. Gradually, paragraphs turned into sentences. Sentences of tear-stained questions, questions without answers, and heartbroken pleas. Now, they were something even more depressing than pages and pages of pain had been.

Now, they ended simply.

"_You really are gone, aren't you?"_

It was awful to read because Sagitta Black was not, in fact, gone at all.


	3. 03 - 1971 - Broken

**0.3 - 1971 - Broken**

Kreacher told Tatty Sirius was gone, off to Hogwarts, just as she had done the year before. This time, Mr. and Mrs. Black were not attending the Sorting Ceremony. Since Sirius was actually of age and not attempting to skip two levels in school, they weren't bothered by his departure.

Tatty hoped and prayed her big brother of eleven months would make their parents proud. She wanted him to face a fate better than she had.

Anticipation was the worst. It made her birthday ten times worse than it already was.

If Sirius was sorted into Hufflepuff like herself, she would be beaten for corrupting her brother and he would be disowned, no matter that he was their eldest son and heir to their legacy.

If Sirius was sorted into Slytherin, he would be praised and Walburga would come rub it in to Tatty.

If Sirius landed in any other house, Tatty would be beaten, Sirius would probably be disowned, and life for Regulus would start getting worse than it already was.

Any way this turned out, Tatty would be seeing her 'mother' sometime soon.

Spending the day with her illegal books that Kreacher smuggled in for her, Tatty looked into animagi again. She was truly fascinated by them. Ever since she was little, she and the boys had sworn they would turn together. Now, that wouldn't be happening.

Tatty was halfway through reading up on the side effects of changing into an animagus when Kreacher showed up, his features ghastly in the light of her flickering candle.

"You should finish your meal." He snapped in his gravelly voice, and Tatty flurried into motion. This was their code for whenever Mistress Black was headed Tatty's way. Particularly, this was the code when Mistress Black was coming upstairs in a foul mood.

Tatty hurriedly shoved her book and blown-out candle into the west window seat. Diving into her bed, she wrapped herself up in her blanket and tossed her glasses onto the bedside table.

Kreacher disappeared seconds before Madame Walburga burst into the room.

"YOU EVIL LITTLE WENCH!" Mummy Black was furious, angrier than Tatty had ever seen her before.

Scrambling backwards in her bed, she cowered backwards into the slanted attic wall, pressing her spine against the rough wood wall.

"I didn't do anything!" Tatty's lip trembled as she tried to get as far away from her mother as possible.

"YOU did this! YOU poisoned his mind!" Tatty's heart sank at the words screamed at her.

Sirius. He'd been sorted wrong.

A stream of expletives ran rampant through Tatty's mind as her shoulders sank.

She deserved this, whatever was to come. She _had_ poisoned him. She was the reason he hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. She deserved every bit of pain headed her way.

"You decide to break the mold and get sorted into the _weak_ house, you disgusting blood traitor, and now my oldest son just _has_ to follow in his sister's footsteps!" Mrs. Black tangled her claw-like fingernails and gaudy silver rings into Tatty's curly locks, yanking her daughter off the metal-frame bed and onto the floor.

"How DARE you distort his mind, twist my teachings to your own devious will! How DARE you plot against your own mother!" With each word came an attack. First, there was a series of back-handed blows to her face. Next came a handful of punches tossed at her. As she ended this specific rant, Tatty was curled into a ball on the floor, pointed shoes being stabbed into her ribs.

A broken sob escaped her lips, much as she tried to hold it back. Mrs. Black heard this and halted.

"Oh, you think you have the right to _cry_ now? To tear up and have a pity party?" Walburga mocked Tatty, glowering down at her daughter, no emotion in her black eyes.

Bending over to get closer to Tatty's face, Mrs. Black sneered.

"You better hope he doesn't turn out like the blood traitor you are." With that, Tatty's arm was pulled away from her protective position and twisted at an awkward angle.

Tatty let out a howl of pain, whimpering when her mother dropped the hold.

"Oh, look, now your body is as broken as your mind." One last, final kick to Tatty's newly-injured limb and Walburga left, stomping her heels down the spiral staircase that led to the attic room.

Glazed eyes watched the door slam and lock, staring at the door for a minute after it was shut. Lip trembling, Tatty smushed her eyes together, hot tears streaming down her wet face.

"Mistress?" Kreacher's voice was quiet, gentle. He was concerned for the eleven-year-old girl. Tatty sniffled, another cry leaving her lips against her will.

"Leave me be, Kreacher. I just need some time. I'll see you tomorrow." Tatty managed, her breathing as ragged as her speech. Kreacher frowned at this, but Tatty did not see.

"Very well, Mistress. Goodnight, Mistress." Kreacher popped out of the room, and Tatty crashed.

She was as loud as she wished now. There were five flights of nothing but locked doors below her, so no-one would be able to hear her.

Pushing herself up from the floor, she cradled her broken arm. The bone was sticking out in her forearm, her elbow and shoulder seemed to both be dislocated, and at least one of her fingers was broken as well.

Sitting in a crumpled position with her back against her bed frame, Tatty closed her eyes again, this time concentrating.

Kreacher had told her of wandless magic. He said it was mostly used for healing. That was good, because that was what she needed right now.

Muttering all the healing spells she had learned, Tatty slowly worked on fixing her arm. It was excruciating - she kept hollering when something snapped back into place. Her arm hurt the worst, but her shoulder was the most painful to put back.

Defeated at the end of it all, she hoisted herself onto her wobbly feet. Falling onto her bed, she was out like a light, the last thing entering her blurry vision being the picture of her and her brothers. The last thing on her mind was the hideous truth; she really was broken.


	4. 04 - 1971 - Saturday

**0.4 - 1971 - Saturday**

That weekend, Kreacher brought Tatty her weekly letter from Sirius. She wasn't sure how Kreacher was able to make it into Hogwarts and steal the letter from Sirius' desk, which was what he had always been doing, it was just more implausible now. No matter how he did it, Tatty was eternally grateful to her house-elf and only friend. She wouldn't have been able to deal with her mother's now daily beatings if she didn't have something to look forward to, something to keep her hopes high.

"_To Sagitta W. Black, my favourite sister._

_Dear Tatty, _

_I got into __Hogwarts! Just like you did, only I made it past the Sorting without __an accident. I keep wondering how you caused an incident so bad that you_'_re __died, and I can't figure it out. Mum and Dad refuse to tell me anything, but then, they've always been that way. Especially now, I guess. _

_I didn't want to tell you this, but I could never lie to you, could I? I know you'll be disappointed. Mum and Dad are. Reg is as casual about the whole matter as ever. I just wish I didn't have to go home to __their disapproving looks for Christmas. Or live with them all __summer, for that matter. What'll I do about Easter? The whole family will be there. _

_Well, here goes nothing. _

_I got sorted into __Gryffindor._

_Mum was __lived_ _livid. Sent me a Howler. I waited till I could hide in a broom closet to open it. _

_Good news is, I found myself some amazing friends! I sent a picture. So, you remember James Potter, that annoying prat who we used to prank at_ _get-togethers? Well, we've been spending time together this past year. He and I vowed to be friends through school, even if we landed in different houses. (Don't worry, we ended up in the same house anyway)._

_Then, on the train, we met these two other blokes, Remus and Peter. Peter's so funny, he's __a great comedian. Remus is a little strange. He's __got all these scars, they're really cool! But he's not really proud of them. Real touchy on the subject, actually. James, Pete, and I have already decided to figure him out. I like him, though. He kinda reminds me of you. You were always into learning and that stuff, more than __me, anyways, and so's he. He's got an __adventurous side to him, though, I see a bit of it every time James and I get to talking about pranks. _

_Speaking of, I've already gotten detention for turning a bully's hair bright pink. You should have seen his face when he realised what i'd done! It was hilarious._

_School is long, boring, and I'm stuck inside far more than I like. Professors are prats, you know that? Maybe that's why you're gone, because the teachers bored you to death._

_I'll tell you more about my classes next time. I've got to run now, Remus is insist__ing we _study_. Shudder. _

_I wish you were here to tell him to bugger off. I mean, I tell him that all the time, but he doesn't listen to _me_. You really have no idea how much I wish you were here in my classes with me. You'd make the whole ordeal more entertaining, especially right after you hex a dumb Ravenclaw for telling you to comb your hair. _

_But you really are gone, aren't you?_

_Miss you loads, _

_Sirius O. Black, your favourite older brother._

_P.S. Don't look too close at our positions in the picture. You're still the only girl I wrestle with, and you and Reg are still my favourite mates, even if you aren't here anymore._

_P.P.S. D'you have any idea how to give someone semi-permanent hiccoughs? Just curious, I have a prank in mind for James…" _

Tatty smiled even as a tear slid down her face. At least he was making friends and having fun at school.

Pulling the picture out from behind Sirius' messy letter, her breath caught in her throat.

There in what must be the Gryffindor Common Room sat four boys.

One had scraggly black curls falling over his forehead, his uniform casually disheveled as he dug his knuckles into another boy's dirty blond hair. Sirius held his trademark smirk, his grey eyes flashing with mischief.

The boy he was assaulting must have been Peter. He was heavier-set than the rest of the boys. He was grinning lopsidedly, his hazel gaze swiveling from the camera to Sirius as the picture moved.

The boy on the other side of Sirius was James Potter, obviously. He had round-frame glasses that hung crookedly on his nose whilst he slung an arm around Sirius.

The boy on the other side of Peter must be the strange one, the mystery. He was more reserved, that much Tatty could tell by the picture. He looked on to the others in mild disapproval, but a ragged grin flashed across his face when Sirius poked his ribs. He was tall, skinny, and his uniform was all aligned as it should be.

Just looking at the picture stopped her heart. Tatty had seen those exact boys in her dream a few weeks ago. In fact, now that she looked back on it, she realised she'd been having the same dream ever since that first night.

A sudden thought struck her, filling her with a newfound fear.

What if she was a Seer?

_(A/N: I redid this chapter and the others because a few details didn't transfer. Particularly, Sirius' letter. It was supposed to have all these strikethroughs because he's an eleven-year-old kid with horrible spelling and probably handwriting. The strikethroughs disappeared, so it just left me, the author, looking a complete fool. I took them out. Anyway, enjoy!)_


	5. 05 - 1972 - Surely Not Me?

**0.5 - 1972 - Surely Not Me?**

Sirius spent Christmas at Hogwarts. This made Tatty's torture even worse. Apparently, it was still her fault for ruining Sirius, Mummy Black's formerly Golden Child.

Sirius spent Easter at Hogwarts. This didn't help matters.

Tatty half-expected Sirius to spend the summer holidays at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, that wasn't allowed so Sirius came home.

According to Kreacher, Master Sirius had trashed his room and stuck up Gryffindor posters wherever the eye could see. This aggravated Mrs. Black to no end. Obviously, she took it out on Tatty.

Meanwhile, Tatty's nightmares increasingly worsened. It got to the point where she couldn't rest unless she drank a sleeping draught. Kreacher had to wake her up with a counter potion every morning.

Neither Kreacher nor Tatty was pleased with the arrangement. It was making Tatty go crazy. She wasn't fond of losing her sanity. That was something she held very near and dear to her heart.

Yet, there was still one answer. One solution to an impossible, improbable, implausible, problem.

If she was a Seer, a true Seer, she could supposedly control her Sight.

In order for that to happen, she would have to admit to herself that she was, indeed, a Seer.

This was something Tatty was not prepared to do.

September first came, and with it, a brutal beating from Tatty's beloved mother.

Regulus had made it into Slytherin, he had made his family proud. No doubt, he was dining with snakes as Tatty writhed in pain on her attic bedroom's floor. Eating lavishly, as a king would. Enjoying the pleasures of a pureblood life without a thought or worry of his dead older sister. Slipping through the dank dungeons, finding a green and silver bedroom, viewing the depths of the Black Lake moments before drifting off into dream-land.

Archie, sweet, sweet Archie. How Tatty missed him.

By Christmas, Kreacher was insisting Tatty pursued the possibility of being a Seer. Tatty was adamant she wasn't one. She was refusing to accept such a painful reality.

It would have been easy to say she was a Seer if she was Seeing good things. If she only dreamt of Sirius making friends that lasted him until he grew old with a Gryffindor bride and five little dark-haired misfits for children. If she only dreamt of Regulus marrying a blonde Hufflepuff who had an infectious laugh, one that made the serious boy happy again, crack a smile, a woman that could salvage his broken childhood, redeem the Slytherin. If she only dreamt of a boy with a terrible curse who eventually found a cure, found a wife, found a family, a place to belong, and learned to love himself.

If that was all she Saw, Tatty wouldn't have hesitated in saying she was a Seer.

Unfortunately, Tatty Saw every night of excruciating pain in the solitude of a drafty shack, all the self-hatred, all the lies, all the secrets. All the somber piano concerts.

Tatty Saw how corrupted Regulus was becoming, how much despite was filling him, contempt for the weaker side of society.

Tatty Saw Sirius, his friends, loyal to the last fight, or so they said, she Saw how hurt he would be by the betrayal of one closest to him.

Worst of all, Tatty Saw the darkness lurking in the corners, the danger that was rearing and baring its teeth, waging war against the Muggles, the Muggle-lovers, and everyone who wasn't born of pure breeding.

Tatty Saw the rise of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Saw the becoming of Lord Voldemort, and Saw the world's impending doom, and thought,

'_Surely not me?_.

_Surely, surely I'm not a Seer? _

_Surely all these dreams aren't real.' _


End file.
